Natalia's POV

The bruises are a dark purple now and are still a bit sore. The cuts are red and still sting a bit but are no longer swollen. They'll eventually fade, until all that's left is the memory. But that may not last for very long anyway. Things are going to change soon, I can just tell. The next morning Ivan came to fetch me and told me to meet him in his office. It was quiet when I was getting ready. The basement was quiet, so was the washroom. I'm now on my way to Ivan's office and I haven't seen nor heard any of the other officers. The entire building is silent, one might think it was empty. Knocking on Ivan's door, I hear him call me in. When I open it, I find Ivan sitting at his desk looking through a pile of papers.

"Come in Natalia. Sit." He waves me in, not looking up from the stack of papers. I take a seat and notice that Ivan's looking through all of the girls files. "I have a few things I would like to discuss with you."

Ivan begins, setting aside the files and looking up at me. He looks less tense, tired but still calm and put together.

"The KGB will be relocating us. We will be closer to Moscow but still a distance away." Ivan watches me with bright eyes. He's proud of me, I'm his trophy. His success story. "You know, you aren't the first Black Widow."

Pulling my eyebrows together, I give Ivan my full attention. He sits back in his seat with a grin, clasping his hands together over his stomach.

"The Red Room has been around for decades. There were only a handful of Black Widows over the years but eventually the program was abandoned." Ivan speaks with such fondness and sincerity, that it makes me want to scoff. I don't thrust him. Not that I don't believe him, I just don't trust him. "When I heard about the program, I knew I had to find the next Black Widow. I knew she would do wonderful things for her country."

Ivan gives me a gentle smile and leans forward. "I'm glad I found her. The KGB will be very involved now that we have our Widow."

Ivan then stands up and grabs the stack of files from the desk. Walking over to the filing cabinet against the wall, he opens it and places the files inside.

"We will be leaving early tomorrow morning. You may go." He dismisses me without a second glance. Getting to my feet, I step out of the room to find Anton and Dominik waiting for me. They take me downstairs to the dining hall for breakfast.

As I eat, a sudden thought hits me. They have their Black Widow, does that mean the Soldier will be leaving? What if he's already gone? I don't think the General and his men are here anymore. Did he leave with them? The sound of footsteps entering the room forces me out of my thoughts and I nearly sigh in relief. Sadovsky and Nikolay enter the room followed by the Soldier. He has a few bruises on his face but other than that, he doesn't look all that bad. They all stand at the front of the room, waiting for me to finish eating.

Just because the Soldier's here now, doesn't mean he won't be leaving. I don't want to admit that I need him but he's the only one that's keeping me sane around here.

When I'm finally done, they all lead me out of the room and up the stairs to the 2nd floor. Madam Oksana's waiting outside of the room for me patiently, with her hands behind her back. She opens the door for me and I enter the room. The Soldier and the officers stay outside as she shuts the door behind her. Madam Oksana doesn't speak as she walks over to a small box that's sitting on top of a table. She finally pulls out a cassette and places it into a cassette player that's next to the box. The tune is unfamiliar. The song being played is primarily made by brass instruments, I can guess. After I get my shoes on, I stand beside Madam Oksana and just listen, focusing on the melody. She has her eyes closed and she's gently swaying from side to side. I imagine how I would dance to a piece like this and start shifting from one leg to the other, eager to move along with the music. Finally the song ends, but Madam Oksana makes not move to do anything. She just stands there and listens to the song again. Walking to the middle of the room, I start to dance. I make up my own choreography and eventually get lost in it. The song repeats over and over again but I make no move to stop. Each time, I come up with different moves until I'm not even sure how many times the song has repeated. All I can hear and feel is the music. My eyes are closed, I don't need to see. When the song ends for another time, it doesn't start over again. Opening my eyes, I find Madam Oksana studying me with her hands behind her back.

"Why did you stay?" I blurt out all of a sudden. I try not to think too much about how I shouldn't have done that and instead wait for an answer. I half expect her to just ignore me.

"They needed me." Madam Oksana finally speaks up, letting out a sigh. She turns to the cassette player and takes the tape out, placing it back in the box. "I didn't want too much to do with a program like this. But seeing all of you so innocent and young, I couldn't leave."

Something swells in my chest upon hearing this. I never knew why she stayed. I knew she didn't want to be here because she didn't like Ivan or the officers for what they were trying to achieve, yet she stayed.

"I knew all of you enjoyed dancing and I didn't want to take that away by leaving." Madam Oksana turns around and gives me a sad smile. I find myself having a new found appreciation for her. I knew she didn't like it here and didn't believe in what they were doing. Before I can say anything, someone knocks on the door and Nikolay opens it. Looking back at Madam Oksana one more time, I turn and leave the room. Only Nikolay and Dominik are present as we head towards Leonov's classroom. When I enter, I find him sitting at his desk. I then take my seat and wait for him to look up. For a few minutes he continues to scribble on a piece of paper, acting like I'm not there. Eventually he looks up and smiles as if he's just now realized I'm in the room.

For the next few hours we go over the different continents, their countries, and their cultures. My favorite so far has been Paris. I know the Black Widow will travel a lot on assignments and I hope I get to go to France for one of them. Leonov acts surprisingly normal, meaning he's not yelling or hitting me. Finally we finish and Nikolay and Dominik come to get me. When we get to the dining hall, Anton and Sadovsky are waiting for us. They're both at another table eating and Nikolay and Dominik join them. Sitting at my usual table, I begin to eat. It's weird having them eat with me, they've never done that before. A few minutes later, the Soldier walks in and sits at the same table as me and begins eating as well. He's a good distance away but nonetheless I still glance over at the officers to make sure they don't look at us suspiciously. The only sound in the room is the officers behind us laughing and talking. The room goes silent as footsteps enter the dining hall. Ivan is accompanied by 4 other officers and they too take a seat at the other table and begin eating. Me and the Soldier are the only ones sitting at this table and I want to scoot closer to him but I know that's not really an option. At this point I've concluded that Kovalev and the KGB officers have left. Probably to where we're being relocated. I'm both excited and nervous about leaving, not sure what'll happen afterwards.

Once I'm done eating, I just sit there until they finish, which takes about 15 minutes. Finally they stop talking and stand up, heading towards the door. When we enter the training room, only Anton and Dominik stay while everyone else leaves. There's a table on the mat and on the table is a gun. Walking up to the table, I pick up the gun and inspect it. It's fairly lightweight and not too big. The Soldier stands off to the side as both Dominik and Anton stand in front of the table. Anton reaches from behind and pulls out his own gun, then proceeds to disassemble it. When he's finally done, they both look down at me and wait. Getting the hint, I begin to take apart the gun. It takes a few seconds longer than him but I still manage to do it.

"Faster." Anton orders and I put together my gun and take it apart again. Over and over again, Anton orders me to put together and dismember the gun. Each time having to be faster than before. Eventually I'm able to take it apart faster than him. The 2 officers step aside and aim their guns at the targets that are on the other side of the room, shots echoing off the walls. They shoot a couple times and for the most part hit close around the center but only hitting it a few times. The 2 officers both turn towards the Soldier with a grin. The Soldier watches carefully, his arms behind his back and face blank. I don't know what Anton and Dominik expected, but the Soldier does not look impressed. Their faces fall upon realizing this but then they begin to smirk.

"Come on Soldat, show us how it's done. If you're as good as they say." Anton tries to provoke him. The Soldier doesn't react or make a move to join us. He doesn't have to prove anything to them but then his eyes find mine and I raise my eyebrow, challenging him. He stares at me for a few long seconds, then begins walking towards us. Taking the gun from his right hip, he lifts it with one hand and shoots. Each bullet hits the target dead center and I have to keep myself from grinning at Anton and Dominik's reaction. The Soldier places his gun back in it's holster and takes a step back, amusement barely noticeable in his eyes. Walking around the table to stand in front of it, I lift my gun and begin to shoot. The first bullet hits the target right in the center and so does the next few shots.

"Switch." The Soldier orders in a low gravely voice. Glancing over at him, I find his arms crossed and him analyzing my every move. Switching the gun to my left hand, I begin to shoot again and find that it's a bit more difficult. After a few more shots I'm able to hit the target in the center using both hands. Anton and Dominik are quiet the entire time, their ego being completely shot down. Pun intended. I continue to shoot for a few more minutes, enjoying the feeling of the weapon in my hand and the jolt from it when I pull the trigger. My mind suddenly goes to yesterday and I squeeze my eyes shut at the memory. My grip on the gun tightens, making my hands ache and knuckles turn white. My hand begins to shake and I have to put the gun down before I drop it. Dominik leans over and whispers something to Anton in which he tries to stifle a chuckle. They both start to head towards the door and I follow behind them. The Soldier walks close behind me as we head downstairs to the dining hall for dinner. On our way down, officers pass by carrying boxes and other equipment. The front doors of the building are open and they're loading everything in the back of a truck. When we enter the dining hall, Ivan's the only one present. He doesn't spare me a glance as I sit down and begin to eat. This time the other officers and the Soldier don't eat as well, instead they stand by Ivan.

I'm kind of excited to have a change in scenery. I know I grew up here but I feel no attachment to this place. I know I'll miss the few good memories though, but I'm not sure if Ivan will still wipe me when the new equipment comes. I don't want to forget everything that's happened. If they are going to wipe me, I at least would like to go up to the roof one last time. That's probably the place I'll miss the most.

Halfway through eating, Ivan, the Soldier, and Anton leave to help carry things out to the trucks. When I'm finished, Dominik takes me to the washroom and waits outside. As I shower, I make up my mind to go up to the roof sometime tonight. After I finish showering, Dominik leads me to the basement and watches me as I change. He then cuffs me to the bed and stands at the door, waiting for me to fall asleep. For the next few hours, I can hear footsteps going up and down the stairs. Dominik has left by now and eventually the entire building goes quiet. Uncuffing my wrist, I slip out of bed and make my way out to the basement. The whole 1st floor is empty and so is the 2nd. No one is patrolling tonight either. Quietly climbing the stairs, I finally reach the 8th floor and make my way out to the roof. The familiar cold air bites at my face as I scan the roof, not finding anyone else up here. Walking over to edge, I sit down and dangle my legs over the building. From here Moscow just looks like a bunch of pretty lights, but soon we'll be closer. I wonder if I'll ever get to go back there. Maybe I'll get to dance at the Bolshoi again.

I don't jump when I hear the door to the roof quietly open, knowing exactly who it is. The Soldier takes his place next to me and looks out towards the lights. His right arm is pressed against mine, warming my side. This may be the last time I see him and I don't know how to feel about it. I feel him grab my hand, placing it in his lap and begin to play with my fingers. His metal hand is gently holding my hand in place as the other traces the lines on my palm. I find myself liking the feeling of my hand being sandwiched between hot and cold. Doing a once over of him, I find that all he's wearing are sweatpants. He's not cold, telling from the fact that he has no goosebumps on his arm. Trailing my eyes up to his face, I find him looking down at our hands. I can't make out his expression, it's just blank. But I know that's just on the outside. After all this time, it's still difficult to read him unless he wants me to. It's both frustrating and annoying. But I guess I wouldn't want everyone being able to read me and for the most part no one can. I do, however, know the Soldier can read me better than anyone and I like to think I can as well. To an extent. Moving my eyes down, I find a trail of bruises across his chest and stomach. Seeing them makes me aware of all the injuries I have and my throat begins to feel sore. I stop myself from reaching up to rub at my neck, knowing the bruises are probably noticeable even though it's dark. Turning away from him, I stare back at the lights. I can feel his eyes on me, but I don't make a move to look back at him. With every second that passes, I know we have to go back to our rooms but I don't want to go just yet. After a few more minutes, the Soldier let's go of my hand and stands up. Getting to my feet, I follow him to the door and down the hall to the staircase. As we make our way down each floor, we don't make a single sound. It's amazing how someone so big can be so quiet. We stop at the 6th floor and I walk the Soldier to his room. We're standing in front of his door and I'm not sure what to do. Should I say something? What should I say? I know he won't say anything, so instead I look up at him for a few seconds and then slip past him. He doesn't reach out to stop me and I'm not sure why I thought he would do that. So many things are running through my mind and I try to block them all out. Stepping back into the basement, I slip into bed and cuff my wrist. I feel so confused. I might get wiped, the Soldier might leave. Maybe he won't though, Ivan never mentioned anything and who better to train me to be the Black Widow than the Winter Soldier. I know my training will be more intense now and I am looking forward to that. I also know that soon I'll be going on my first assignment. What will I be doing? Who will I kill? This just brings forward a whole new set of questions. Closing my eyes, I press my head into the pillow to try and ease the headache that's starting to form. I've been so focused on becoming the Black Widow that I didn't think about what would happen afterwards. I just need to take one day at a time or else I'll go insane. More people will be watching me too. The Red Room as well as the KGB, since they're coming together. I guess I'll still have to watch over my shoulder, maybe even more now than before.
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